


Drying Out

by Churbooseanon



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-04-02 03:17:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4043794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Churbooseanon/pseuds/Churbooseanon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lunch provokes thoughts and invitations to hang out in the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drying Out

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Spin Cycle](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1818961) by [Churbooseanon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Churbooseanon/pseuds/Churbooseanon). 



> I needed more Laundromat AU. Check out Spin Cycle.

A lot can change in fifteen minutes.

“Do you want it toasted?”

Caboose smiles and nods to Leonard, following the man through the line at the Subway. Their talk in the laundromat before the man with his glasses and piercing green eyes and dark hair that was just perfect and looked very very soft which matters to Caboose. The conversation had apparently so caught up the other man that here he was, joining Leonard in building a footlong for them to share. Then they could go back together and tend to their laundry. 

“We wanted it toasted,” Leonard confirms, “with provolone.”

“Why provolone?” Caboose asks, frowning. 

“I hate yellow cheeses,” Leonard returns immediately, shuffling them down the line.

Caboose nods in understanding and returns to planning out what he does and doesn’t deem necessary in a sandwich. 

Soon enough the two have returned to the laundromat, their sub between them as they sit cross legged on top of a folding table. Leonard had stared at it in distaste for a while, but in the end Caboose had lured him up with promises of a bit of the cookie they were sharing. 

“This is quite… undignified,” Leonard sighs as Caboose makes sure the sandwich is fully separated and hands it across to him. “It is not appropriate for a man such as myself to…”

“Have fun,” Caboose insists. “Just because you read stuffy stuff doesn’t mean you have to be stuffy. There is more to the world than just reading and writing and science.”

That earns him a rather displeased look. “My work is…”

“You’re work right now is to eat your food and wait for your dryer to finish,” Caboose counters, reaching out to lay a hand on Leonard’s arm. 

He has to stare in wonder as the other man’s cheeks get a little red before he flinches away from Caboose’s touch. The color so high on his cheeks makes Caboose smile, and he isn’t entirely sure it’s a bad thing to smile like this around another person. Just spending this time talking to Leonard has already made him so… warm inside. And he’s certain it isn’t just the sandwich in his stomach, all toasty warm, that is doing it. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Leonard demands, staring at Caboose. “God, you remind me of... “

Of what he doesn’t say, just turns red again, and Caboose hums in pleasure at the look of him before taking another bite of his delicious sandwich. Church sandwich is the best sandwich that he’s ever had, and it makes him smile more than anything else. 

“Because I like looking at you,” Caboose admits. “You have nice eyes.”

Again the red in his cheeks and Caboose wants to reach out and touch it. He thinks it’s going to be warm. Has to be warm. But Caboose keeps from reaching out to touch. 

“Yeah. Sure. So… uh, what do you do?” Church asks him, looking away. In fact, it seems to Caboose that the whole purpose is the Church isn’t looking at him specifically. But Caboose can understand that. 

“I work. And I play games,” Caboose answers, smiling. 

“No, I meant… Geez, what do you do when you work?”

“Whatever my boss tells me to do,” Caboose comes back just as fast. 

That has those stunning green eyes on him again. 

“So… are you making fun of me or are you just dense?”

Caboose considers that for a moment. “Both. Yes. Definitely both. But you’re not allowed to call me that because it’s mean.”

The comment seems to make Church frown again, and when he looks at Caboose he just nods in agreement. “Sorry. I just… I just got out of a relationship with a woman who seemed to turn everything I say into a joke or a jab or something.”

“Doesn’t sound nice,” Caboose agrees, taking another bite of his sandwich. “But I promise I am very nice.”

Strangely enough, he seems to get a chuckle for that. All Caboose can do is sit there in awe. How can someone who seems to very angry all the time have such happy laughter. 

“You’re looking at me weird again,” Church observes, and Caboose just nods in agreement. 

“Yeah,” he agrees. “I do that sometimes.”

Mostly he isn’t quite sure what to say about it. Say to him. There is just something about this Church that makes him think more than he normally does when he’s trying to deal with people. Why should he waste the effort on people who are just going to be mean like his boss who always insists that Caboose finish his work before he goes and gets help for his injuries at work.

Their conversation doesn’t get much deeper than that, though Caboose does enjoy convincing the man to play rock-paper-scissors for the bigger part of the cookie. The look Church gets when he loses time and time again makes Caboose actually laugh. He even rants for a while about how strange it is that someone as smart as him should keep losing. 

Caboose, though, ends up giving Church part of his half of the cookie as well. 

The thing that is really bad is that in the end, Church’s laundry is done first. Even after Caboose insists on trying to help Church fold, and they talk then too. Caboose tells him about construction work and Church tells him about brain science stuff and when they’re done… 

When they’re done Caboose has to stay and Church has to go and that’s the saddest thing that Caboose has ever heard. 

“Saturdays at two.”

Caboose pauses by his dryer as he frowns. “What about twos?”

“I come here to do this every Saturday at two in the afternoon normally. You know… In case I lose my shirt again.”

Caboose just smiles. He gets it. He wants to see Leonard again too.


End file.
